MicroRNA-451 induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in docetaxel-resistant lung adenocarcinoma cells by targeting proto-oncogene c-Myc

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been reported to play a significant role in tumour metastasis as well as chemoresistance. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in chemotherapy-induced EMT are still unclear. MicroRNA (miRNA) expression and functions have been reported to contribute to phenotypic features of tumour cells. To investigate the roles of miRNAs in chemotherapy-induced EMT, we established two docetaxel-resistant lung adenocarcinoma (LAD) cell models (SPC-A1/DTX and H1299/DTX), which display EMT-like properties and gain increased invasion or migration activity. MiR-451 was found to be significantly downregulated in docetaxel-resistant LAD cells, and re-expression of miR-451 could reverse EMT to mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) and inhibit invasion and metastasis of docetaxel-resistant LAD cells both in vitro and in vivo. The proto-oncogene c-Myc was identified as a direct and functional target of miR-451, and further researches confirmed that overexpression of c-Myc which induced extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK)-dependent glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β) inactivation and subsequent snail activation is essential for acquisition of EMT phenotype induced by loss of miR-451. Furthermore, c-Myc was significantly upregulated in docetaxel-non-responding LAD tissues in comparison with docetaxel-responding tissues, and its expression was inversely correlated with miR-451 expression. This study first reported the involvement of miR-451/c-Myc/ERK/GSK-3β signalling axis in the acquisition of EMT phenotype in docetaxel-resistant LAD cells, suggesting that re-expression of miR-451 or targeting c-Myc will be a potential strategy for the treatment of chemoresistant LAD patients.